eirethunefandomcom-20200214-history
Treasure or Folly
A Path to Treasure In the inn known as the ''Mote Lantern ''at the northern gate of the town of Banor, the party met a man of questionable reputation named Thangus Tribulan. Thangus had placed a posting in the inn for the last week or two that indicated that for the right price, Thangus would lead adventurers to a hidden manor, deep in the Athro Wood, that was bound to be filled with treasures from ancient times. He definitely wouldn't take less than 200 to show adventurers the path...unless he took 175....or maybe 150 gp. In any event, a portion of the money was given to Thangus ahead of time, and then the next morning, Thangus and the party headed out. He seemed to be honest in the conversations that he had with the party. There was a certain amount of incredulity that was pervasive in the party, but not enough to truly distrust Thangus' motives. Perhaps Thangus was a bit shifty, but not a completely scoundrel. As they headed into the Athro Wood, Thangus showed the party his trail symbol as they went, so they would believe him a bit more. And as they progressed, the party did indeed follow his trail. The group encountered some dire wolves one night, but with some clever druidic understanding, the wolves went on their way. Eventually, the group came to the long deserted hamlet of Staeden - once a relatively strong yet small village, but destroyed long ago by overwhelming force. Thangus warned the party as they approached that he and a couple of his hunting friends had run into an ogre here, so they should be on the look out. Thangus and his friends had killed one before, but you never know what you could find in these woods. What the group did find, was 3 ogres, hiding amidst some of the ancient ruins of Staeden. Fierce and formidable the ogres were, but also no match for the party, ever growing in strength. The party continued along Thangus' blazoned trail, heading south until they came upon a manor built into a low hill amidst the deep and dense trees of the Athro Wood. Here lie whatever was left of a manor, its ancient doors, engraved with griffon and lance, covered in detritus and forest sprawl. Thangus would take care of the party's steeds and extra equipment, while the group ventured in to claim what had not been seen by civilized man for centuries. What would the party find when they entered? Inside the Manor Immediately inside the manor was an entrance hall. The hall images depicting various events in history surrounding the time of the Demon Wars, immortalized in frescoes on its walls. In addition, there was a remarkably well-kept sigil of the manor, that of the Griffon and the Lance, indicating the House of Bandraht. Several doors exited the hall, but the party decided to investigate the first door to the west. The Conservatory Area Heading along a long dark corridor, the party came to a crossroads of corridors and elected to head south into a series of rooms that were overgrown with strange plants. The rooms comprised a music conservatory, a study and a couple workrooms. Although never encountering these plants before, Freya ascertained that these light blue vines that hung about the rooms were known as Valah, a vine more commonly the far north in Frostmark, Rhorden and the Land of the Ur Lords. These plants were susceptible to fire, but also had the ability to drain people of their warmth. Besides the strange blue plants, there was another brown, withered plant on the workroom floor with fronds that swayed to the slightest motion in the air. When Brocktharian was trying to skirt this plant, he found out the hard way that a simple touch to these plants could drain one's vigor almost instantly. The last strange occurrence in the area was that in the conservatory, there was a clavichord in the center, which emanated a tune very quietly even though no one seemed to be playing it. The party quickly learned that the Valah, although not openly hostile, were very fearful and protective when it came to contact with fire. When Freya began to wave torches near the Valah, contact with them caused the vines to lash out and begin to drain the half-giantess of her body warmth. Fortunately, Freya was able to carefully retreat, and with that, the Valah also returned to their original locations. It was also discovered that the fumes from the burning Valah could cause additional fatigue, which affected a couple of the party members. Next, after retrieving an ornate cloak, a book, a broken lute, and a smithing hammer from the area, the party continued their exploration. Unknown, Unseen, Undiscovered Next up, the party found a cistern with basins, which probably served the manor with supply of fresh water pumped in from an aquifer or elsewhere. Although the area was searched, it was left with the main spigot of the cistern still running. The following room was some sort of entry hall. On the northern wall was an ornate door engraved with the sigil of House Bandraht, surrounded by two suits of armor, each armed with ancient martial weapons of the South East nobility, the Falchodiar. Although initially immobile, when the door was approached, the suits of armor came alive and barred the party from venturing forward. The suits of armor were actually Varumvartha, constructs conjured from dead servants who serve eternally those masters they left. Besides being skilled with their martial weapons, the Varumvartha had two other powers which the party had to face: a gaze which caused brief paralysis in those locked eye to eye, and a screech which caused a brief feeblemind condition. Although Zak suffered from the screech, the party was able to deactivate the Varumvartha and clear the way to another part of the underground manor. The party retreated outside briefly to recover, and found that they had been followed by something or someone hidden, causing them grief. It appeared that this something hidden was also attempting to inflict some sort of disease upon the party. This action awoke the cognizance in the party about what was going on given a note they found in the study near the conservatory... Sergeant Walver will have to take care of Adurn. He must not only be allowed to play in the house again, but it sickens me to say that he must be killed as well. He was such a great musician, but the rumors of his association with the beast cult are more than likely true. Twelve people were supposed to have received a disease from him at one of his concerts, and three of the people died that day. Adurn was probably following them now, and probably was the one responsible for the music before. Although Adurn could not initially be seen, through the magic and skill of the party, they were able to dispatch Adurn once and for all, even though Adurn called upon Giant Rats to attack the party in his defense. In the aftermath, however, the party would gain control of the ''Cloak of Adurn, ''and with it, the ability to call upon giant rats themselves. When the party returned to the interior, they ventured beyond the door where the Varumvartha had been, and discoverd an old salon used to entertain special guests, still equipped with a bar and study. There were also frescoes on the wall which animated when the braziers by them were lit. The frescoes depicted scenes from Southwestern history, but also included a strange fresco where a famed hunter, Harbin Kangkwar, from the Southeast was receiving guidance from the great sage, Arddig Mardwm. In the fresco, there appeared to be an extrusion, a projection of a plate upon which Harbin had placed some entrails to which Arddig responded negatively. The extrusion was identified as magical and that it could also identify some traits or abilities of items placed upon it. When heading back to recheck areas that they may have missed, the party decided to return to the cistern since the water from the spigot there was slowly expanding outside of the room. Upon entry into the water, Brocktharian discovered that hidden in the water was some sort of strange water demon known as Shikagwash. The creature could hide instantly in any depth of water, but seemed to stay solely in the water, attacking any who it could reach. The fight continued for a while, but fortunately, the group was able to both turn off the spigot and vanquish the water demon who had found itself in the manor's water supply. Why was there a demon found herein? When the group did revisit the study with the Valah in it, the group was very careful not to disturb them while they investigated the rotting bookshelves and desks in search for anything worthwhile. Several books were found in the shelves, covering history of the Demon Wars, Dark Lords of the South, the Great Learning, the Southern Barons, and a book on the Manifestations of the Guardian Gods focusing on Aluriath. Fear and Fortune When the party continued to the north through the Salon, they found a heavily trapped door which shot out dangerous flames periodically. Racing through at the correct periods, the party ventured into a once lavish bed chamber, probably that of the Lord of the Manor. However, it was still occupied, with a ghostly woman weeping on the bed. Zak approached the ghost and became a bit too familiar for the ghost's liking, and she immediately sent out a scream which terrified several to their very bones - sending several of the party at a full dash back out of the manor at full speed. Meanwhile, Freya fought back the undead lady of the house, using the weapons left by the Varumvartha. Fortunately, Freya was stalwart and victorious and the fear of the lady would never be felt again. After searching the noble bedchambers, the party was able to find one of the grand suits of mail of House Bandraht and a great cloak, also emblazoned with the house sigil, but also capable of healing allies of the bearer. Category:Campaign